NEW DELHI: Just three days into its existence, the newly-elected
Wrestling Federation of India
(WFI) – headed by former
WFI
chief
Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh
’s loyalist,
Sanjay Singh
– stood suspended on Sunday for ‘flouting provisions of the National Sports Code’ and appearing to be in ‘complete control of past office-bearers’.
Following the shock retirement of Olympic bronze winner Sakshee Malikkh and heartbreaking visuals of leading wrestler Bajrang Punia leaving his Padma Shri medallion on a footpath in Delhi in protest of Singh’s election as WFI president, the government appeared to be striking a conciliatory note with the agitating group of wrestlers by suspending the wrestling body with immediate effect for showing ‘blatant disregard for established legal and procedural norms’, ‘announcing in haste the decision to hold under-15 and under-20 Nationals in UP’s Gonda (Brij Bhushan’s stronghold) without giving sufficient notice to wrestlers’, ‘leaving the elected body in control of former office-bearers in disregard to the Sports Code’, and ‘not involving the secretary general (Prem Chand Lochab) in the general business of the federation’.
“The decisions made by the newly elected executive body of the WFI demonstrate a blatant disregard for the established legal and procedural norms, violating both the WFI’s constitutional provisions and the National Sports Code. The actions smack of complete arbitrariness on part of the president, which is against the settled principles of good governance and devoid of transparency and due process. Adherence to governance norms is vital for ensuring fair play, transparency and accountability. They are crucial to build trust among athletes, stakeholders and the public,” the sports ministry noted in its suspension order.
“The United World Wrestling (UWW), the international body for wrestling, is yet to issue official communication lifting the suspension of the WFI. Thus, the WFI has been instructed to suspend all its activities till further orders,” the ministry added.
Later in the day, the ministry wrote to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), informing the PT Usha-led body about its decision to suspend the WFI and urging it to form an ad-hoc committee to run the day-to-day affairs of the federation.
“Taking note of the compelling current situation arising out of the influence and control of the WFI's former office bearers, serious concerns have arisen about the governance and integrity of the WFI. This requires for immediate and stringent corrective measures to uphold the principles of good governance in sports organisations, and thus, now it becomes incumbent on part of the IOA to make suitable arrangements for the interim for managing the affairs of the WFI so that sportspersons of wrestling discipline do not suffer in any manner and the principle of good governance in the sports body do not get jeopardised," the letter stated.
Ministry sources informed that the constitution of India and Sports Code provide for such powers to the union government to suspend a federation. “These have been upheld by constitutional courts in various decisions. The WFI’s executive committee (EC) has been instructed to abstain from administering and managing the day-to-day activities of the federation until further orders,” a source said.
“This decision was without following the provisions of the WFI’s constitution. Such decisions are to be taken by the EC, before which agendas are required to be placed for consideration. As per Article XI of the WFI constitution under the heading ‘Notices and Quorum for Meetings’, minimum notice period for EC meetings is 15 clear days and quorum is of 1/3rd of representatives. Even for emergency EC meetings, the minimum notice period is seven clear days with a quorum requirement of 1/3rd of representatives,” the ministry noted.
The sources also claimed that the decision to suspend the WFI has nothing to do with the alleged sexual harassment case against Brij Bhushan and it’s been done purely on technical grounds and following the basic principles of the Sports Code.
Reasons for suspension
-- WFI’s newly-elected president Sanjay Singh was ineligible to contest. As per the national sports code, 2011, he completed his three terms of four-year each with the federation – the maximum tenure limit allowed. He was WFI’s executive committee (EC) member for two consecutive terms (2011-2015 & 2015-2019) and then became a joint secretary (2019-2023) before being elected as the federation’s president on Dec 21. This will be counted as his fourth successive term in the WFI, in violation of the sports code. Moreover, he completed his three terms (12 years) as a vice-president of the Uttar Pradesh state wrestling association and was also the president of the Banaras district wrestling body.
-- Similarly, newly-elected vice-presidents – Asit Kumar Saha (West Bengal), Jai Prakash (Delhi) and Kartar Singh (Punjab) – are also ineligible to hold any post in the present WFI set-up since they have done their three terms each (12 years) in their respective state wrestling bodies.
-- As per the national code for good governance in sports 2017, “no less than 25 percent of the board members shall be eminent women athletes of repute and standing who shall be elected by the electoral college of the NSF.
-- All the decisions taken by the IOA-appointed previous ad-hoc body running the day-to-day affairs of the WFI were cancelled by Sanjay Singh, “indicating not only a void in the governance of the federation, but also marks a clear departure from the well-established norms”.
-- WFI’s recent decisions taken by Singh “reflect complete arbitrariness and militate against settled principles of good governance”.
-- Singh’s unilateral decision to hold under-15 and under-20 Nationals in Gonda “undermines the principles of good governance as outlined by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which emphasise democratic processes, transparency and shared responsibility in sports governance”.
-- The WFI's newly-elected body “is not functioning independently but rather remains under the influential control of the WFI's former office bearers".
Questions for Sports ministry
-- How can the ministry suspend an NSF which is still not recognised by it.
-- All NSFs are either Section 8 companies or registered societies with the Registrar of Society under the Societies Registration Act 1860. So, only the Registrar of Society or the Courts can suspend an NSF.
-- The ministry recognises an NSF only for the purpose of making them entitled for financial grant.
-- WFI’s newly-elected Executive Committee (EC) must have first applied for the recognition before the ministry could have acted and gone ahead with suspension.
What’s the way ahead
--The ministry has directed the IOA to form an ad-hoc committee to run its day-to-day affairs.
-- The ad-hoc body calls for fresh elections
-- Sanjay Singh can approach the Supreme/High Court for relief.
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